Method and device for inserting loom pile wires



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H J SMILEY METHOD DEVICE FOR INSERTING LOOM PILE WIRESFeb. 24, 1959.

Flled Jan 24, 1957 Feb. 24, 1959 H. J, SMILEY 2,3 4,

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR msaa'rma LOOM FILE WIRES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledJan. 2-4, 1957 0'0 N I FIGIO.

v5 mmuuummllwll METHOD AND DEVICE FOR INSERTIN G LOOM PILE WIRES HarryJ. Smiley, Glasgow, Va., assignor to James Lees and Sons Company,Bridgeport, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania I Application January 24,1957, Serial No. 636,076

13 Claims. (Cl. 139-41) This invention relates to looms for weaving pilefabrics and more particularly to an improved wire motion for use inconjunction with the needle motion in a double weft oom.

In United States Patent No. 2,715,918, issued August 23, 1955 to Eislerand Moxley, there is disclosed a modified Axminster'type loom in whichuncut pile ends are woven over a single round wire. It is a primaryobject of the present invention to provide apparatus whereby one or morepile wires of non-uniform configuration from end to end may be used in aloom of this type. Another object is to provide a wire inserting andwithdrawing mechanism capable of staggering the wire positions inaccordance with a pre-determined pattern and also to avoidwarpwisestreaks or valleys in the fabric.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cam controlledabutment which is movable along the raceway of the wire guide inaccordance with the shape of a pattern cam.

A further object of the invention is to provide in connection with amovable abutment, means for permitting the wire latch to override thewire without becoming coupled thereto.

Further objects will be apparent from the specification and drawings inwhich Fig. 1 is a top view showing the wire and needle motions of a loomgenerally illustrated in the Eisler and Moxley patent cited above.

Fig. 2 is a side view of vthe structure of Fig. 1 showing theneedleslide in a moved position,

Fig. 3 is a transverse section as seen at 3-3 of Fig. 1,: Fig. 4 is awarpwise section of a fabric showing the manner in which it may bewoven, U 1

Fig. 5 is a perspective of a multiple blade serrated wire usedinconjunction with the present invention,

Fig. 6 is a; diagrammatic view showing the movable abutment and the camcontrolling the relative position of said abutment,

Fig. 7 is an end view of the structure of Fig. 6 showing the ratiobetween the main cam shaft and the abutment cam shaft, and

Figs. 8-11 illustrate different positions of the abutment and latch forcoupling, uncoupling, and overriding.

The invention comprises essentially the provision in a loom of theEisler and Moxley type, of a non-uniform wire which may be serrated withundulations over its upper edge or which may have a series of relativelyflat high and low areas which may also be used with or without one ormore blades along the wire. In weaving a fabric on a loom of this type,the construction consists of two ormore double .weftsho tsper wireinsertion into the shed. In pile fabric weaving it is well known thatthe warp yarns are formed into a series of sheds some of which may besingle sheds; i. e., two sets of warps; and some of which may be doublesheds; i. e., three sets of warps. Where the ground fabric is wovensimultaneously with the pile so that the pile wire is inserted into ashed ice simultaneously with a shot of weft, a double, shed is formed.In Fig. 4 a three-shot construction is shown but this may vary dependingupon the type of fabric desired to be produced. Nevertheless, it will beapparent that the needle motion must reciprocate the needle two or moretimes to every insertion of the pile forming wire.

Accordingly, means is provided for uncoupling the wire after it has beeninserted and leaving it in the shed for two or more subsequent needleinsertions before it is again withdrawn. In addition, Where anon-uniform wire is used, it is important, if not essential, to staggerthe uncoupled positions of the wire in the shed so that the ridges andvalleys, orthe cut and uncut portions of the fabric are not always inwarpwise alignment which results in a highly undesirable effect thatwould render the fabric unsaleable. By controlling, in accordance with aregular sequence, the position of an abutment which uncouples the wirehead with the latch carried by the needle, it is possible to break upthe varigated areas in the pile so that a pleasing texture or surface isachieved.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, in Figs. 1-3 the needleraceway 15 is provided with an adjustable slide 16 and an upper fixedslide 17 to which a retaining slide 18 is secured. The needle head, orcarrier 19 is secured to a gib 20 which carries the needle 21 and thewire cable connectors 22, 22 under control of the usual loom motionwhich oscillates the needle carrier back and forth by means of the cable25 carried around the sheave 26 and the conventional actuatingconnections not shown.

The needle 21 is guided by an upper roller 27 and a lower roller 28 andis used to carry double weft shots W into and through the shed of afabric in accordance with conventional practice. A second raceway 30 issecured. to raceway 15 by means of spacers 31, 31 and the upper edge ofraceway 30 is milled to slidably support and, guide a pile wire 32 whichmay be of the type shown in Fig. 5. Pile wire 32 has a head 33containing an upward-v ly disposed recess 34 which is provided withfront andback abutments 35 and 36 as well as an inclined surface 37. Theneedle head 19 also carries a pivoting latch 40 which is normally heldin a downward position by means of an extension spring 41 (Fig. 2). Thelatch assembly 40 includes a'dog 42 or similar extension which is in'alignment or overhangs the wire 32 and is of .such shape that it willride up the incline 37 and into notch 34. to push the wire 32 into theshed by means of contact with wall 35 or to withdraw the wire from theshedwh en thedog 42 engages the rear wall 36. Alternately, the notch 34may be masked so that the dog 42 overrides notch 34, thus permitting thewire to remain in the shed.

The wire motion is controlled by means of camshaft 45 (Fig. 7) which inturn drives a special latch cam 46 1 through shaft 47 and beveled gears48 and 49 which in the form illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 have a 2-1ratio so that cam 46 makes one half turn for every turn of camshaft 45.A pivoting lever 50 is provided with a cam follower roller 51 and isconnected at its upper end to the slidable abutment assembly 52 througha link 53.

Lever 50 is pivoted at 54 under control of extension spring 55. Theabutment assembly 52 shown more clearly in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 comprises abody 60 slidable on way 61 and connected to link 53 by pin 62. The upperedge of body 60 carries a stop or abutment 63 against which the forwardface 64 of wire head 33 impinges when the wire is inserted. A springclip 65 surroundsthe abutment 63; to prevent the wire from bouncing backor jumping out of the groove in raceway 30. The body member 60 is alsoprovided with a slide 66 having inclined face 67 which serves as a maskto elevate latch 40 and to prevent the dog 42 from locking in notch 34as illustrated in Fig. 2.

This action may be necessary whenever the needle must override and alsoto prevent the latch from picking up the wire and withdrawing it everytime the carrier 19 is retracted.

Referring now to Figs. 6 and 8-11, a cam for weaving multi-shot fabricwill be described. A typical threeshot construction which can beproduced in accordance with the present invention is shown in warpwisesection at Fig. 4. The position of the abutment 52 is controlled bylatch cam 46 which in turn actuates lever through cam follower S1. Acycle of operation is shown in detail in the following table:

Latch Cam Gam- Needle shaft Position Wire Position Angle, Fig.Per-Degree Angle, Contact Degrees degrees in-long-couple.. O. G O 9960111; 40 H out 45: D 6 in-short-uncouple 80. D 8 in-short-override 90D 10 in-short 135 D' 270 in-latch override 180 I 360 ,6 out-couple atshort E 370 11 position. out 225 .T 450 in-long-uncouple 270 A 540 8in-long 315 A 630 in-long 330 F 660 in-long-couple 360 G 720 9 In short,the sequence comprises inserting the needle 21 and wire 32 during thelatch cam contact are D (Fig. 6). During this time abutment assembly 52is carried to its short position by the high lift portion of cam 46.When the wire contacts the abutment 63, surface 67 has raised latch 42to permit it to ride over face 35 of the wire head. The abutmentassembly 52 remains in the same position to mask the notch 34 in thewire head when the carrier 19 reverses, thereby leaving the wire in theshedand against abutment 63. After the needle is completely retractedthe sheds change, thus binding the wire 32 in the short positionwhereupon cam 46 has turned to present contact area E to the camfollower 51. This, however, occurs after the latch has come in again andis returning from its override position shown in Fig. 10. With the camor masking surface 67'withdrawn from its position in alignment withnotch 34, dog 42 drops into the notch to couple the carrier 19 with thewire head 33 at the short position and thereby to withdraw the wire fromthe shed. On the next insertion the wire 32 is carried all the way in toits long or maximum position because the abutment 52 is positioned touncouple the wire by means of latch cam contact area A. Afteruncoupling, which presumably involves a slight amount of override, theneedle is retracted, the sheds change, and the needle is inserted againat approximately position F in Fig. 6. Since it is necessary to unmaskthe notch 34, cam 46 carries the abutment 52 and the sloping cam 67 to amaximum displaced position (G on cam 46) to permit the latch 42 tocouple to the wire at the maximum in position. This completes the cycleof operation for a two-shot fabric, and it will be apparent that asuitable change in the shape of cam 46 and/or the ratio of gears 48 and49 permits the use of a non-uniform wire with any fabric construction.Fig. 8 shows the relative position of the cam surface 67 and the wirehead which occur at uncoupling or when the notch 34 is masked to preventcoupling on a return stroke. Fig. 9 illustrates the relative positionsat coupling when the notch is unmasked, such as at position G in Fig. 6.Fig. 11 would illustrate the latch just before coupling at position E.Fig. 10 .shows the overriding of the carrier and its latch to uncouplethe wire at the short position. Obviously, uncouplingand coupling may bearranged at a plurality of different positions by changing the designof. 46.

,4 Such would give even more varied effects with certain types ofserrated or wavy wires.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a pile wire loom, a wire motion comprising a carrier horizontallyslidable on a raceway, means for reciprocating said carrier, a pile wirehorizontally reciprocable into and out of the shed of a fabric beingwoven on said loom, a selectively operable latch between said carrierand said pile wire, a movable coupler for engaging and disengaging saidlatch, and means for moving the coupler to cyclically vary the weftwiseposition at which the wire and the carrier are coupled and uncoupled.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the pile wire isprovided. with a head having a notch therein engageable by the latch.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which the coupler comprisesan abutment and means for masking the notchin the wire head.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 having a camshaft, a pair of 21gears driven by said camshaft, and cam controlled means driven by saidgears to selectively position the uncoupling element.

5,. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 in which the wire head isprovided with a cam surface for contacting the latch, and the coupler isalso provided with a cam surface for preventing the latch from engagingthe notch.

6. A wire motion for a pile wire loom comprising a raceway, a carrierslidable on said raceway, means for reciprocating said carrier along theraceway, a second raceway positioned parallel to and in spaced relationto said first raceway, a pile wire slidable in said second raceway, anabutment assembly slidable on said second raceway and defining aninnermost limit position for the wire, means for selectively couplingand uncoupling the pile wire to the carrier, and means for sliding theabutment assembly on the second raceway in timed relation to themovement of the carrier.

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 6 in which the slidable abutmentis controlled by a cam geared 21 to a camshaft on the loom.

8. Apparatus in accordance with claim 6 in which the pile wire has anon-uniform upper pile forming surface.

9. Apparatus in accordance with claim 6 in which the slidable abutmentis provided with a spring clip for retaining the pile wire against theabutment.

10; The method of weaving a pile fabric which comprises the steps ofinserting a shot of weft into a double shed of a fabric being woven,simultaneously inserting a pile wire into said double shed, leaving thewire in said shed, inserting a secondshot of weft, withdrawing said pilewire, forming a subsequent double shed, simultaneously inserting saidpile wire and another shot of weft into said last-named double shed, andleaving the wire in said shed in a weftwise displaced position from itsposition in the first shed.

11. The method of claim 10 in which the shot is a needle inserted doubleweft.

12. The method of claim 10 in which the wire has a non-uniform upperpile forming edge.

13. The method of weaving a pile fabric which comprises the steps ofinserting a pile wire into the shed of a fabric being woven leaving saidpile wire in the shed, forming a subsequent pile shed, inserting a pilewire into said subsequent shed, and leaving said last-named pile wire ina weftwise displaced position with respect to the position of the firstwire.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS635,897 Poole Oct. 31, 1899 2,715,918 Eisler et al. Aug. 23, 19552,752,954 Craig July 3, 1956 2,808,072 Stovall Oct. 1, 1957

